Mysterious pullet death overnight

[member 593900]

Two nights ago, one of my 4 month old Ameraucana pullets wasn’t in the coop when I went to lock up for the night. I looked for her to no avail, and assumed a neighborhood cat who had been lurking at dusk the night before has gotten to her.
When I went to let everyone out the next morning, she was alive and standing under the coop, much to my surprise. She went inside as soon as everyone else left for the day. I could tell behaviorally that something was wrong - staying in the coop all day, not interacting with the rest of the flock, and looking a little out of it - but she seemed completely normal from a physical exam.
This morning, I woke up to find her dead in a nesting box, and I’m just very perplexed. Another exam of her body didn’t give any more answers; there are no injuries to be found, no concerning discharge or bleeding, no swelling or distension. She hadn’t yet begun laying, so I doubt she was egg bound. My flock free ranges, lives in a wood coop with wheat straw bedding, and she was eating Scratch and Peck soy-free layer mix, plus whatever she foraged for each day.
I realize that her death was likely remain a mystery without a necropsy, but was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences to help me narrow it down.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Would you be up to doing a necropsy on her to look at her abdominal organs? Sometimes, that can give us clues to a cause of death. If the body is kept cold, not frozen, it could also be taken to your state poultry vet tomorrow, if you live in the US.

At 4 months, she could have developed a reproductive disorder or other organ failure. Heart failure is also common when pullets start to mature. It just about could be anything.

I am not a fan of the scratch and peck feeds. I tried a bag of layer once, and my chickens would not eat it. Feeds that are all uniform and in crumble or pelleted form are better for insuring that they don’t only eat certain parts of the feed, which can result in nutrition deficiencies.